Genetics
by Death's Daughter
Summary: Max/Alec, set post Transgenic Conflict. Manticore left behind one last present.
1. Chapter 1

Alec froze just inside the door of Jam Pony, a stunned expression on his face, not unlike that of a person who had just walked into a wall.

"What the hell?"

Sketchy glanced back, finally realising that Alec was no longer beside him.

"What's up?"

Alec frowned at him.

"You don't smell that?"

"Smell what?"

How could he miss it? The air in here was thick with it, almost suffocating. It was sweet and dark and primal and woke an uncontrollable _need_ in him; it smelled of lust and sex and…

He grabbed Original Cindy's arm as she passed.

"Where's Max?"

"Boo had to head home. She was feelin' a little…_delicate_." Cindy eyed him consideringly. "You ain't lookin' too hot either. You aiight?"

"No," he replied gruffly. He released Cindy and turned on his heel, striding out of the place. Cindy straightened her sleeve haughtily, brushing off some imaginary dust.

"What's up wit' him?" she demanded, turning to Sketchy in the hopes that, for once, he'd have more than half a clue what was going on.

Sketchy just shrugged eloquently.

--

Max felt a little more human after her third cold shower. Only a little, mind you, but it was better than nothing. She wandered into the living room, robe on, towelling her hair dry and hoping that she'd be able to get through it this time without anything majorly disastrous happening.

That hope, however, and all the good work the shower had done faded abruptly as the door to the apartment slammed open and Alec stormed in, his face dark. He grabbed her by the collar and pinned her roughly against the wall.

"I hate you," he informed her with a snarl, before crushing his mouth to hers in a vicious kiss. She laced her fingers into his hair, tugging brutally to bring him closer, teeth clashing, his hands fumbling with her robe as he pressed her harder into the wall.

Need, lust, heat and pressure were building inside her, between them and she needed more. Wanted it harder, faster, meaner. More blood, more skin, less _clothes_.

Then, as she tugged at his jacket and shirt, it was as if someone flicked a switch and she pushed him away with all her strength, at the same time he pulled back, sending him backward, tripping over the coffee table.

He scowled up at her, his eyes dark with lust and venom, his lips swollen and bleeding slightly at the corner. His hair was a mess, his jacket half off his shoulders and his shirt rumpled.

It took all her willpower to stay slumped against the wall, probably looking more than a little rumpled herself.

"What the hell was that?!" she demanded. Anger was a safer bet than lust and…She lost her train of thought as he licked away the blood on his mouth and sat up.

"What the hell are you trying to pull?" he shot back, his voice rough. "Going into work like that – anyone'd think you _wanted_ me here!"

"I was only there for ten minutes!"

"So what, did you rub yourself over everything before you left?" he spat, pulling himself to his feet. "Your stink was everywhere."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Max snapped, tearing her eyes away from the skin at his stomach she got a glimpse of as he moved.

"What, you think you're the only one who got cat DNA? Your freaking pheromones were all over that dump."

"And like a typical man, you followed your dick and it led you here," she sneered at him. "Well you can take it elsewhere, Romeo, 'cause you ain't getting anything from me."

He was moving towards her again, and she kept very still, refusing to back down or move to meet him.

"You have no idea how much I don't want this," he told her darkly.

"I think I've got a vague idea," she shot back.

"I doubt that."

"You're not allowed to talk," Max told him. "Get those pants off."

"Shut up."

"Make me."

He tugged her to him again and kissed her roughly.

--

Original Cindy bustled back into the apartment, fully expecting to see Max pressed up against the window ogling the construction workers on the site across the road. She paused, however, when she spotted Max in the kitchen, in loose pants and a vest top, all the visible skin covered in scratches, bites and bruises.

"Woah, Boo, what happened to you?"

Max looked up and glared at her.

"I don't want to talk about it," she muttered, as Alec came out of the bedroom, similar marks up his arms and neck, looking equally pissed off. Cindy stared.

"Oh no, you din't…"

"Shut up," Alec growled, shrugging his jacket on and shouldering his way through the door past her, not even sparing Max a glance. Cindy's astonished gaze stayed on where he'd been for a moment, before moving to rest on Max, clearly waiting for an explanation.

"Don't ask," Max advised.

"I thought you couldn't stand the boy," Cindy said.

"I can't." Max moved past her.

"Then why did you…?"

"It's…complicated." She disappeared into her bedroom.

"When isn't it complicated wit' you?" Cindy muttered, heading into her own room.

--

At work the next day, Max let out a yelp when she was tugged around the back of the lockers and slammed against them roughly, Alec's furious face filling her view.

"What the hell did you do to me?" he hissed, his nose practically touching hers.

"I could ask you the same thing, asshole," she spat back.

"I can't get your goddamn scent off me!" he growled, tightening his grip on her collar and lifting her slightly off the floor.

"Try washing." Her hands came up to grip his wrists, holding herself up.

"I've _tried_," Alec snarled. "And every shower I've had's ended…Never mind how they ended. _What did you do_?"

"I thought it was you!" She brought her legs up and kicked him in the stomach, steadying herself against the lockers as he stumbled back a step. "I thought _you'd_ done something to _me_!"

"I wasn't the one who was stinking the place up." He slid closer to her, boxing her against the lockers again. "I think you did this on purpose. I think you _want_ me to come back. Your problem's 'cause you didn't get enough last time and you want to bring me back for more."

"Why would I want to do that?" Max demanded. She could smell him, warm and there, sparking off everything the scent of him and sex in her room had started. She wanted to wipe that smug look off his face. She wanted to wring his neck. She wanted to throw him on the floor and ride him until he cried. "You're an egotistical, annoying, juvenile asshole."

"And you're a self-righteous, holier-than-thou ice queen."

"Better not stick your dick in again then," she spat. "It might get frostbite and drop off."

"Like you could manage without it," Alec drawled.

"Like you could."

"Wanna bet?"

"Yeah. We'll see who's first to crack." She smirked at him. "Not that it'll make any difference. It's _never_ happening again."

"Oh I'm more than okay with that." He smirked back. "But you'll be sorry when you snap and I say no."

"Like that'll ever happen." She eyed him. "I'd almost think you want me to ask for more."

"It does a man's ego good."

"Yours doesn't need any help." Max gripped his shirt. "But get this straight, it's not happening again because it's _wrong_. You look like my _brother_."

"What is it with you and brothers?!" Alec demanded, disgust evident on his face. "First that Zack guy perving all over your ass - "

"Jealous?"

"Dream on." He snorted. "You want me, not the other way round."

"We'll see who cracks first," Max said, although she was dangerously close to doing so then, watching the way his throat moved.

"Damn right." He darted forward and kissed her roughly, biting her lips sharply, before pulling back. "Starting now."

Max watched him strolling off calmly, angry at him and the fact that she was already set to drag him into the back room.

"He is not gonna win this," she said, straightening her shirt. "He can only dream that I want him. Dickhead."

--

This was pathetic. It was worse than pathetic. It was _sad_ and pathetic. She'd only seen him this morning.

She was pacing, feeling twitchy, full of nervous energy and need that was normally confined to heat. She wasn't sure whether she wanted to be in her room, which was soaked in his scent and sex and they mingled together and made her ache. She didn't know whether it helped or not.

It'd been what, eight hours since she'd last seen him? No way was she gonna cave. No way. She didn't even _like_ the guy.

She realised of course, that this was totally insane when she walked past her bedroom door again, pausing to take a deep breath and savour the smell.

Oh screw it. It was a stupid bet anyway.

She had barely made it two steps towards the door when it opened and Alec stormed in.

"Shut up," he ordered, before she could do more than open her mouth. "Don't say anything."

It occurred to Max that she should probably fight more, but he was here and warm and smelled _ohsogood_, and he was propelling her forcefully towards the bedroom.

He'd lost anyway. She'd mock him later, when her mouth wasn't so busy elsewhere.

--

"I should've known you'd be the type to leave right after," Max sneered, watching Alec pull his jeans on, while her hand explored a rather nasty bite just below her left ear. "Wham, bam, thank you ma'am."

"I'd stay and snuggle," Alec said smoothly, snagging his shirt and wincing slightly as it caused the long, deep scratches on his back to twinge. "But you're about as cuddly as a porcupine."

"I'd rather have a porcupine than you any day."

"I'll tell Animal Protection to keep an eye out." He zipped his jacket up. "What's now?"

"Generally, the putting on of clothes is followed by leaving." Max gave a little wave. "Buh-bye."

"You know what I mean, Max! We couldn't even make it a day! Hell, I only just got my pants back on and my body's telling me to dive in again!"

"You're just desperate, clearly."

"I'd believe that a lot more if you weren't being a smart-ass to my crotch."

Flushing in shame and anger, she wrenched her gaze up to meet his.

"I hate you," she told him darkly.

"The feeling's more than mutual."

--


	2. Chapter 2

"Boo?" Cindy called, heading towards Max's room. "Why does the place smell like it's on fire?"

"Just…clearing some stuff out!" Max called back.

Cindy stuck her head into her room-mate's bedroom and balked when she saw the fire going at Max's feet.

"What the hell are you doin'!?" Cindy screeched.

"Just burning my sheets to get rid of that smell." She glanced at Cindy. "Chill, it's in a bucket, it ain't goin' anywhere."

"What smell?" Cindy moved over to stand next to her, watching the smouldering linens and the smoke drifting out of the open window.

"Alec." Max suppressed a shudder. "He's all over them. I can't stand it."

"Sugar, the only reason he's all over them is 'cause you let him get all over you." She pushed Max's hair back from her face, inspecting the mark on her neck. "Looks like he was trying to take a chunk with him as well."

"I can't help it!" Max grabbed Cindy's arm. "You've gotta stop this from happening again. Keep me away from him. Handcuff yourself to me or something!"

"I'm good, but I ain't _that_ good," Cindy drawled. "Original Cindy couldn't stop you from gettin' what you wanted if I tried. I handcuff myself to you and you and your boy decide to get jiggy, I could find myself in the middle of some _nasty_ heterosexual practises, aiight? And while I'll do a lot for my girl, there's some things that just ain't worth the pain."

She nudged the bucket with her toe.

"I hope you got some spare sheets, Boo, 'cause you ain't havin' any of mine."

--

"Woah," Sketchy breathed, inspecting the marks down Alec's torso as he changed shirts. "Those are awesome. And those bites! What did you do, have sex with a girl who hates you?"

"…Pretty much, yeah." Alec flashed him a grin, tugging his shirt on and closing his locker door.

"Special delivery to Sector Three!" Normal called. "They've got some kinda gang war goin' on up there, so one of you muties'll have to take it!"

"Should've known he wouldn't get any politer, even if he did back the cause," Alec muttered, shooting Sketchy an amused look.

"Mine!" Max cried, catching sight of Alec as he emerged from the lockers.

"Did you not hear me?" Normal said, jerking the package out of her reach. "_Special_ Delivery. I wouldn't trust you with this as far as I could throw you, Oh Leader of the Rebel Alliance."

"I said I'd take it!" Max hissed. "Give it!"

"And how do I know you won't steal it, hm? Well Missy-miss? That's right, I know what you're about."

"Get someone else to come with me then." She reached for the package. "They can keep an eye on me."

"Good plan. Alec!"

"Oooh no," Alec said firmly.

"Anyone but him," Max added.

"What is this, 'Argue with the Boss Day'?"

"It's _always_ argue with the boss day," Original Cindy pointed out, from where she was busy stealing candy from Normal's stash behind the counter. "Where you been for the last three years?"

"Hey hey hey! Get out of there!" He wafted at Cindy with his clipboard, and she shot him the look of one entirely unimpressed. "I would've thought I'd earned your trust, what with support I gave you during the war. I put my life, my livelihood, my reputation on the line. And now that it's over I employ you, and this is the thanks I get? Insubordination? Abuse?"

Alec scowled at him and snatched the package, shoving it in his bag.

"That guilt-trip is only going to work for so long, y'know," he warned.

"I'll enjoy it while I can." Normal smiled brightly at him. "Bip bip bip!"

--

"I can't believe this," Alec muttered, as he pedalled alongside Max.

"Shut up!" She ordered harshly, desperately trying to avoid looking at him. "Hurry up, would you?"

"Yes ma'am, no ma'am, three bags full ma'am."

Max scowled and pedalled harder, moving ahead. Alec found himself presented with the view of her rear as she tore off, and he got the full blast of her scent as he rode to keep up with her.

"Max, dammit, this isn't going to work!" He leaned over and grabbed her handlebars, pulling her to a stop beside him and bringing her face dangerously close to his.

"What the hell are you doing?!" she hissed, holding her breath to prevent getting another whiff of him.

"I can't ride with you smelling like that," he told her, glancing around them. "I've got certain parts which make it kinda difficult to ride when someone's wafting around a nasal aphrodisiac."

"That's not my problem, is it?" She tried to tug her bike out of his grip. "Leggo!"

"I _can't_!"

"Yes you can. Open your fingers and move your hand away, it's very simple."

"You're holding your breath," he accused, studying her face carefully.

"You're damn right I am. I don't want another repeat."

"You could've warned me before you went powering off downwind!"

"Downwind?" She glanced down at him and chuckled. "Well, tough luck cowboy. No sniffin' on this end."

"Wanna bet?" he hissed, and grabbed her collar, pulling her into a fierce kiss.

--

"We gotta deliver the package," Alec huffed, wincing and twisting around to pull the rock out from under his shoulder. Max tried half-heartedly to brush the grass stains off her pants, before pulling them on irritably.

"I hate you," she told him venomously, shooting him a glare. Alec ignored her touching his lip cautiously.

"I think you bit right through it," he said.

"Good." She scrambled awkwardly to her feet. "Serves you right for being an ass."

Alec grunted and moodily kicked her legs out from under her, causing her to land on her back with an 'oof!'

"Serves you right for being a bitch," he muttered, levering himself to his feet with a wince. "Christ, I think you took a layer of freaking skin off."

"That'll make us even, since I'm gonna have to scrub at least a layer off tonight before I feel clean."

"_You_ need to feel clean? What about me? You've been out here longer than I have. You're probably carrying more diseases."

"That which doesn't kill you only makes you stronger," Max said snidely as Alec picked up his bike. "Let's hope it kills you."

"That hurts almost as much as your nails," Alec snorted, as Max struggled upright and grabbed her own bike.

"Whatever. I'm going to deliver the package. You can drop dead for all I care."

"Love you too, Maxie," he called as she rode off, giving her a jaunty two-fingered salute. "I hope someone spits in your tea!"

Clambering onto his bike carefully, he pushed off in the other direction, wincing as he discovered bruises in delicate places.

A few minutes later, the pair of them were face-to-face again, in the secluded clearing they'd parted from.

"You've got the package," Max said.

"I've got the package," Alec agreed.

The package didn't get delivered.

--

"Hey hey hey!" Normal eyed Max and Alec as they limped back into Jam Pony later that day. "What the hell have you two been doing? I've been getting angry phone calls saying the package didn't get delivered. You look like crap, by the way. Did you get into a fight or something?"

"Uh…" Max cast a quick glance at Alec. "Yeah. Yeah! The gangs jumped us. Beat us up. Stole the package."

"I thought you guys were supposed to handle that sort of thing," Normal said sceptically.

"There were a lot of them," Max said. "Came from nowhere."

"We were lucky we got out in one piece," Alec added.

Normal squinted at them, pointing with his pen.

"Are those bite marks?"

"Uh…Yeah. They bit us… So we had to go get shots."

"Shots?"

"Tetanus," Max said.

"Rabies," Alec offered.

"Anyway." Max shrugged. "It's all Alec's fault."

Alec looked at her.

"Wait, _my_ fault? Why is it _my_ fault?"

"Because you're an idiot."

Alec stared at her, then shoved her irritably. Max shot him a mutinous look and shoved him back.

"Hey, I'm allowed to shove," he said, pushing her again. "You called me an idiot."

"That's because you are an idiot, idiot." she shoved him harder.

"Bitch."

"Moron."

"Control freak."

"Asshole."

"Weirdo – oof!" Alec landed on the floor, bringing his hand up to rub his jaw.

"Don't make me come down there and beat your ass," Max told him.

"Like you could," Alec sneered, and trapped her ankle between his feet, twisting to bring her crashing to the ground.

"You dick!"

"Can't keep your mind off it for two minutes, can you Maxie?"

"Oh you wish!"

"Hey! Hey!" Normal tried to regain some semblance of order as the pair of them started grappling viciously on the floor. "This is a place of work! No brawling! Get them off each other! Don't make me get the hose!"

"Let me kill him," Max snarled, as she was hauled forcefully off Alec by a couple of the other transgenics working there. "Please. I'll be doing the world a favour!"

"Get a grip, Missy!" Normal ordered.

"I'll get a grip – on his throat!"

"Wanna try it, Maxie?" Alec taunted, as he was pulled to his feet by a few others. "Come on – I let you win last time. It's not gonna happen again."

"If you two don't cut it out I'll suspend you both!"

Alec glanced at Normal, then shrugged off the hands holding him back, straightening his jacket.

"I'll go get the package back," he grunted, and headed out the building, shouldering past Max roughly on his way out.

--


	3. Chapter 3

"I'm not coming," Max said firmly. "Alec'll be there. It'll end way badly."

"You know as well as I do that if you ain't there, then Alec'll make his way here thanks to that weird man-trap thing you smell of," Cindy told her flatly. "At least if you're both at Crash we can keep an eye on you."

"…You're right." Max grabbed her jacket. "Sit on me or something, would you? Or bean me over the head with a pitcher if it looks like I'm heading over to the dark side."

"I don't know what the hell is going on wit' you two," Cindy commented as Max followed her out the door. "I can't even say it's 'unresolved sexual tension', since the pair o' you have been resolvin' it two or three times a day for the last week."

"It's more than that," Max sighed.

"_More_ than three times a day?" Cindy raised an eyebrow. "Where d'you get the energy?"

"What? No! No! Well…Yes, but that's not what I meant." Max grimaced at Cindy. "I just…Can't stand the guy."

"Which is why you're bonin' him on the Q.T."

"Exactly. Wait, no. It's why I need to _stop_ boning him on the Q.T. Would you stop doing that?"

"Boo, I'd stop, if you din't make it so _easy_."

--

"This is all your fault, you know," Alec hissed at Max over the table they were sitting at, Cindy sandwiched between them.

"_My_ fault?" Max hissed back. "How is it _my_ fault?"

"If you hadn't turned up at work like that, I would never have gotten a whiff of it and this whole thing never would've gotten started!"

"Oh, so it's _my_ fault you can't keep it in your pants?" Max shot him a disgusted look. "Grow up."

"You weren't exactly trying to stop me! I distinctly remember you ordering me to shut up and take my pants off!"

"Maybe I wanted to kick you out in the street in your underwear and humiliate you!"

"You'd have had a hard job of that – I don't _wear_ underwear!"

"Aiight, I don't _care_ any more," Cindy said, shoving her way out from between them. "I already know way too much about yo' personal habits. Screw each other into next week for all I care."

Max watched her go, then turned her glare on Alec.

"See what you did?" She growled, kicking him under the table.

"What _I_ did? What about what _you_ did?"

"Me? I'm the victim in this! I'm the one having you _forced_ upon me!"

"Forced? Forced? You were the one who pinned me to the - _ow_! Stop kicking me!"

"Then stop talking about it so loudly!"

Alec huffed in an angry breath and slammed his hands on the table.

"Fine. _Fine_." He stood abruptly, knocking his chair over in the process, and grabbed Max's collar, yanking her out of her chair.

"What are you doing?!" she demanded, trying to break his grip as he half-carried, half-dragged her towards the exit.

"I'll show you forced," he hissed.

--

The alley wall was rough against her back, and she let out a cry, partly from what Alec was doing to her and partly because she'd just thrown her head back and bashed it against the brick behind her.

"Still feel like a _victim_?" Alec spat, thrusting up into her brutally and tightening his grip on her thighs.

"Will you _ever_ just shut up?" Max gasped, tugging harshly on his hair and digging her nails into his scalp and neck.

"Will you ever stop being a bitch?" he shot back, even as he felt her grip begin to tighten on his neck, nails piercing the skin. Her hips pushed against his insistently as all her muscles locked and she gave a half-choked gasp.

He braced himself against the wall and pressed against her, shuddering hard and swearing under his breath.

"We've got to sort this out," Max said, as Alec finally pulled away and lowered her down. She pulled her jeans up, wincing uncomfortably as they touched the raw skin on her lower back.

"Damn right," Alec muttered, tucking himself back in his pants. His hand went to the back of his neck and came back covered in blood. "Shit, Maxie, you're vicious."

"Oh don't be such a baby," Max clucked, then glanced at his hand. "Jesus…" She turned him around and tugged his collar down, wincing slightly at the deep scratches across the back of his neck, almost totally obscuring his barcode. "I didn't mean to…"

"S'alright," he said gruffly, batting her hand away and turning around, flashing her a grin and tugging his collar up again. "No worse than usual."

"That is!" Max said. "You're never normally _bleeding_ afterwards!"

"Guess I musta just pissed you right off tonight then," Alec said tightly.

"We need to get this sorted." Max reached out to him again, but he batted her hand away.

"I'm fine," he snapped. "Go do your…detective thing, or whatever. I'll go…sort this shit out."

He shoved his hands into his pockets and headed off.

"Alec!" Max called, annoyed.

"See ya later, Maxie!" He gave her a little wave, then disappeared around the corner, leaving Max in the alley, alone and irritated.

--

Alec hissed slightly as he pulled his collar away from his neck, the fabric sticking to the scabbing blood and pulling it away, opening the scratches up again. It was in his hair as well, dammit. He was gonna have to shower.

Stripping his clothes off, he stepping into the spray, wincing as the hot water hit the scratches in various states of repair over his torso and arms. Didn't normally bleed, oh how he laughed – inside. Showed how much attention she paid to what they were doing.

He grabbed the shampoo and began to work a generous amount into his hair, taking care to unstick the strands from his neck, working the blood out of them. The shampoo hit the reopened scratches and stung like hell, as he probed his scalp for where she'd been gripping his hair. Didn't feel like she'd broken any skin there, which was a relief. The shampoo stung across his other scratches as he rinsed it off, and the stinging only increased as he reached for the soap.

He'd actually been getting kind of used to their new… 'arrangement'. Regular sex with a hot girl who he had, until recently at least, liked and respected. Who could argue with that, really?

Then she had to go and practically accuse him of being a rapist, and that had hurt more than all the other injuries put together. It was no wonder Logan had packed off to help the transgenics in Canada. Mr Save-the-World probably got enough earfuls from her.

Her scent was in the steam all around him, and it was having its usual effect. The water moved over his skin in a caress drastically different to the ones he and Max shared. Warm and soothing, gentle.

Sighing, he braced himself against the wall, giving in to the inevitable.

At least this thing was doing his stamina good.

--

"…And you say it happened after your heat?" Logan asked down the phone. "And it hasn't happened with anyone else?"

"I've had more guys than I can count thanks to heat," Max said grouchily. "But if they've stuck around afterwards it was because they were clingy. This is…it's like every time he comes near me I'm in heat again."

"Do you think it's because he's another transgenic?"

"Maybe. I dunno. It's never happened with a transgenic before." She strolled over to the window and glared down at the people below.

"I think you should ask some of the other X-5s," Logan said after a thoughtful pause. "See if they've got any clue."

"I don't want this spreading around!"

"You don't have to give them specifics," he said patiently. "Just…find out if they've had any complications with that sort of thing. Maybe look into the others involved in that breeding program thing."

"You think that might have something to do with it?"

"It's possible." There was a pause, and Max could hear voices in the background on Logan's end. "I'll look into it. I've gotta go, but I'll talk to you later, alright?"

"Alright."

She hung up and sighed irritably. This wasn't going to go well, she could just tell.

--


	4. Chapter 4

"Where's Alec?" Max asked, leaning over Normal's partition to see if he was hiding in the office somewhere. She could smell him, although she wasn't sure if that was her or not.

"Came in early, took as many packages as he could carry and skeedaddled," Normal said, pushing her back. "There's a boy who knows how to work."

"Why don't you just marry him and get it over with?" Cindy asked. "You're about two steps away from declarin' yo undyin' love anyway."

"We don't all swing the same way you do," Normal told her, shoving a package in her face. "Here. Hot run to Sector Six."

"Any for Terminal City?" Max peered over the counter again as Cindy took the package.

Normal rummaged under the piles of packages around him.

"Mm…no, I think Alec took them all – Oh wait, here's one." He unearthed it and passed it over to her. "Remember you're there to deliver it, not socialise with all your mutant buddies on company time."

"Whatever," Max said cheerfully, shoving the package in her bag and heading out.

--

"Jam Pony Messenger!" Max's voice filtered through the control room as she came closer.

"Shit!" Alec hissed, hopping off the table he was sitting on and sprinting to the exit on the other end of the room. "Remember, if she asks, I wasn't here."

"Yeah, whatever," Mole grunted. Alec flashed him a cheeky grin, then slipped out the door, moments before Max sauntered in at the other end.

She froze, eyes narrowed. Alec's scent was everywhere in here.

"Is Alec here?" she asked.

"Nope," Mole said, not looking up from his book. "Just left when he heard you coming." He jerked his thumb towards the door Alec had escaped out of.

"Alec!" she bellowed, tossing the package aside and sprinting after him.

Mole glanced after her.

"Whaddya think he did now?" he asked, glancing at the others in the room.

"Alec smelled of Max," Joshua said slowly, as if something odd was finally clicking into place. "And Max smelled of Alec."

Mole grinned slowly.

"Ohohoho," he chuckled. "Excellent. I'll open the betting up."

--

She'd been trailing Alec all day, and she was beginning to feel more than a little frustrated. Initially, she'd just wanted to talk to him, to see if he knew anything that Manticore could've done, but after a day following his scent that intention had been pushed gradually further back in her mind.

Now she was practically aching with need. Alec's scent was clouding her thoughts and she wanted - _needed_ more. She needed it fresh, hot. She needed to taste it on him as they writhed and ground their way into mindless pleasure, needed him over her, under her, so deep in her that he wasn't coming back out. She needed it hard, rough and dirty.

And she needed it now.

She hammered on the door to his apartment.

"Alec!" she hollered. "I know you're in there!"

"Well hey there, Maxie," came his voice from the other side of the door, irritatingly cheerful. "Isn't this a nice surprise!"

"Let me in!"

"Ah." He sounded apologetic. "You see, I'm afraid that won't be happening."

She was about two steps away from humping the door – the things his voice was doing to her…It was almost sinful when she was in this state.

"Why not?" she asked dangerously.

"'Never Again', remember? I thought that was the plan?"

"That didn't seem to bother you last night," she snarled, still tugging violently on the doorknob.

"That's true," he allowed. "Of course, Maxie, last night you said some things that hurt my feelings a little. And my neck's _fine_ by the way, thanks for showing concern."

Max gave up and started trying to knock the door down, ramming it with her shoulder.

"You are such an ass!" she told him.

On the other side of the door, Alec grinned idly, lounging in an easy chair on the other side of the room, holding a small, glass bottle in his hand, filled with a clear oil-like substance. He wafted it under his nose lazily.

The door juddered on its hinges violently, but the large chest of drawers, bookcase and sofa piled up behind it prevented it from opening.

"Alright," came Max's voice again, tense. "I _know_ my pheromones are going nuts. How come you're not fighting to get to me?"

"You sure think highly of yourself, don't you?" he chuckled, enjoying this greatly.

Max's reply was lost as she slammed against the door again, but Alec was sure it wasn't very nice.

"Camphor oil, Maxie!" he called happily. "Clears the sinuses like nothing else! Unfortunately, smell's so strong, you can't get a whiff of anything else while it's there."

There was silence on the other side of the door.

"Given up? Maxie, I'm hurt. If you _really_ loved me, you'd've broken through by now!" Still silence. He frowned. "Max?"

His window shattered artfully as Max leapt through it and lunged at him, knocking the bottle of oil from his hand viciously, straddling him and kissing him with barely-suppressed violence.

Alec responded eagerly, hands tearing at her clothes, knocking off her cap and ripping her t-shirt over her head, while she kicked off her shoes and reached for the hem of his shirt.

He stood, lifting her bodily, legs wrapped around his waist as she attacked his neck with harsh bites, carrying her into the bedroom and pressing her down firmly on the bed.

She let him force her hands over her head, more occupied instead with grinding her hips into his, and licking his neck where she'd split the skin, tasting the blood that was starting to slide, mingling with the sweat.

She froze when she felt something solid click around her wrists, and Alec sat back, chest heaving, and stared at her. Max tugged desperately, needing to touch him, taste him, stop him from getting off the bed, but her hands wouldn't move. Craning her neck, she saw that he'd handcuffed her to the metal bed head, and she turned to scowl at him.

"You _ass_," she hissed, distracted momentarily by the movement of muscles under skin as he lifted his hand to his neck, wiping away the blood.

"You know the best thing about Camphor Oil?" he said tightly, watching her strain against the cuffs. "You apply it to the skin – rubs in, smell's there, everywhere you go."

He walked out the room, locking the door behind him.

--

Max's relief when he returned not too long later was almost palpable.

"Camphor oil finally worn off?" she asked snidely, tugging against her bonds again.

"Put some more on," he said simply, moving over to the bed. She felt herself growing warmer as he came nearer. He straddled her hips and leaned forward, kissing her just barely, gently. She tried to move her head to deepen it, harshen it, but he pulled back to the limit of her reach. He cradled her head softly and kissed her slowly, leisurely, heartbreakingly sweetly. And it did nothing to cool the flames licking through her blood.

He pulled away finally and before she could respond she felt fabric forced into her mouth and tied around the back of her head.

She stared at him wildly, demanding.

"Don't want you biting, Maxie," he said, stroking his thumb across her cheek. "Thought we'd try something different. You're normally up for mixing it up a bit, hm?"

He leaned down and kissed her neck, and as he moved she caught a sharp, piney scent mingled with his. His neck and chest shone slightly with oil – Camphor oil.

He was moving down her, exploring, exploiting, seeing what made her writhe and moan and arch towards him. Taking it slow; slow and careful. Like he had all the time in the world, as he eased her pants over her hips and down her legs.

She was burning, slowly, from the inside out. He was driving her insane with wicked lips and clever fingers. She wanted him to go faster, she wanted him to slow down, for it to finish, for it to never, ever end.

By the time he finally pushed into her, inch by oh-so-wonderful inch, she was trembling, short of breath, flushed and hotter than she thought it was possible to get. Little more than a boneless pile of need and desire and pleasure that he could mould and manipulate as he wished. She arched up towards him helplessly, and he watched her face intently, learning how he made her feel.

And then he twisted his hips like _that_ somehow, and she was gone.

When she came back to herself, he was still rocking inside her leisurely, and he grinned at her, sweat running down his face.

"We're not done yet, Maxie," he rasped, and she felt a thrill run through her, at his voice and the thought itself.

--

Max woke up the next morning, still feeling boneless, warm and with the scent of something odd tickling her nose. She stretched languidly, and caught sight of the bruises on her wrists, pausing as the memories of last night came flooding back.

"Sorry 'bout those," came Alec's voice from the doorway. "Didn't have time to hunt down my fuzzy pair."

She frowned at him, sitting up.

"What's that smell?" she asked finally.

"Camphor oil," he said. "Put some on you last night, after. And some more this morning. Should keep us sane – well, _saner_ until we can find a cure for this puppy."

"Yeah, speaking of," Max said, pulling the sheets around her and swinging her legs off the bed. "What the hell was all that about?"

"All what, Maxie?" Alec shot her a look of studied innocence, and tossed her clothes to her.

"You know what!" she snapped, gesturing for him to turn around so she could get dressed. He raised an eyebrow, which clearly meant 'Dude, after what we've done you don't want me to see you putting your clothes _on_? Freak.' But he obliged anyway. "The handcuffs and the gag and…_everything_!"

"Told you Maxie," he said to the living room as Max pulled her clothes on. "Just wanted to try something different. I was fed up of coming out of sex looking like I'd been combat training."

"Yeah, right," Max snorted. "I bet you just get off having girls tied up and at your mercy. I wouldn't put it past you to like something twisted like that."

"How many times did you come last night?" Alec asked, turning to face her again as she did the button on her fly.

"Why? Need an ego boost? Excuse me if I don't start writing sonnets to your technique."

"How many times, Maxie?" he asked again, insistently. Max didn't answer. She didn't know. Towards the end it had been difficult to tell where one orgasm had ended and another began. "I came four times."

"Whoop-de-doo." Max folded her arms. "Am I supposed to be impressed by your stamina?"

"You're missing the point!" Alec snarled, slamming his fist into the wall, and despite it all Max flinched slightly. "Last night wasn't about me getting off. _You_ seem to have gotten it into your head that I'm some kind of rapist. That I don't care about anything but me. I told you at Manticore, and I'll tell you again. _I'm not that guy_. I hope you've learned, Maxie, because I'm learning one hell of a lot about you."

He turned and disappeared into the living room, Max trailing behind him.

"Like what?" she demanded, as he pulled his jacket on. He shot her a glare.

"I used to like you, Maxie," he said, "but it turns out the girl I liked is just hiding the psycho you really are." He grabbed his keys and jerked his head towards the door. "Come on. I've got somewhere to be."


	5. Chapter 5

"Enzymes?" Alec repeated. Scott nodded.

Scott had been another of the X5's involved in the 'breeding programme'. He'd also been messing around with one of the lab techs, so if Alec wanted information on the crap Manticore had pulled, Scott would probably know. He wasn't wrong.

"Enzymes," he confirmed, rinsing off his face and drying it, glancing over to where Alec was lounging on his bed in his Terminal City apartment. "You remember they started upping our meds? One of those new pills contained a DNA sequence that was fitted on to ours when the cells replicated – kinda like genetic engineering with bacteria, where they'd cut the DNA, slip the new bit in, then seal it all up again and bam! The bacteria started to produce whatever the DNA told them to do – Insulin, mainly. And when the cell replicated, more cells were able to do it, so more was produced."

"And these DNA codes…included the information for these new enzymes?"

"Yep. Protein synthesis of a genetically-engineered enzyme created by our Manticore mommies and daddies." Scott pulled his shirt on and moved over to the bed, pushing Alec's feet out of the way so he could sit and pull on his boots. "Produced by the skin cells and complementary to the DNA of our assigned breeding partners. Particularly, the pheromones released during sex, their sweat, which activated them."

"Oh gross." Alec wrinkled his nose in distaste.

"Once they were activated," Scott continued, grinning. "They'd continue to synthesise those pheromones until the girl got knocked up. _You_ would start producing _their_ pheromones, and vice versa, so you'd be encouraged to keep going until we got a pregnancy."

"And then?"

"The cells in your partner would react to the consistent levels of progesterone that occur when pregnancy happens, and secrete an inhibitor, which would stop her enzymes from producing your pheromones, and yours from producing hers, taking effect after they'd been passed onto you during your final copulation."

"So to get this to stop, I've got to knock her up?" Alec grimaced.

Scott grinned at him.

"Or you could just keep having sex," he suggested. "It's not exactly a tough gig."

"You don't know who my breeding partner was," Alec said grimly. "If I keep going like this I could end up dead. She's _rough_."

--

"What's wrong, Boo?" Cindy asked eventually, as she and Max rode through South Market. "I ain't seen you lookin' this miserable since yo' sugar daddy moved to Canada."

"Logan wasn't my sugar daddy," Max muttered automatically. "Am I a psycho?"

"No!" Cindy cried, as if the very idea was offensive to her. "Why? Did someone say you were? Who? Gimme a name, Boo, an' I'll go lay the smackdown on that bitch."

"Alec," Max said miserably. Cindy paused.

"Oh," she said. "Well, then he's tellin' the truth."

"What?" Max braked and stared at Cindy, who stopped beside her. "I thought you said I wasn't!"

"When it comes to yo' boy, girl, you don't think straight," Cindy told her flatly. "You been raggin' on him since he got here."

"But," Max protested, "he was my second-in-command during…"

"Yeah, Boo, an' the minute things got right again, what did you do? Start bullyin' him all over again."

"What're you trying to say?"

"You had issues with him before this mess even started, Boo," Cindy told her. "You just din't notice them."

--

"Normal, have you seen Alec?" Max asked, slouching over to the dispatch desk. Normal shot her a look of distaste.

"Why do you always assume that I keep tabs on you delinquents?" he demanded.

"Not us delinquents," Cindy said. "Just Alec."

"Well, no, for your information, I have no idea where he is," Normal said, and unearthed a large envelope from under the pile on the counter. "But he left this for you."

Max squinted at the package shoved under her nose and snatched it.

"What is it?" Cindy asked. Max shrugged and tore it open, pulling out the sheaf of papers inside. On the top of the pile was a piece of notepaper, with the word 'Enzymes' scrawled on it in Alec's handwriting.

"Well?" Cindy prompted.

"I think," Max said, flicking through the sheets, "he found the problem."

--

"It certainly sounds sensible enough," Logan mused, the tone in his voice suggesting that the problem was tricky and he was looking forward to it. "A lot like the genetic engineering they used to do with bacteria, years ago."

"But can you stop it?" Max asked insistently.

"It's possible," Logan mused. There was a shuffling of paper, as he looked through the files that Max faxed him from Terminal City headquarters (from which, she had noticed irritably, Alec was conspicuously absent). "Yeah, here it is. They were designed to stop being produced after pregnancy occurred. Seems like this wasn't a permanent solution – just a trial run. You're lucky," he said, a little amused. "If you hadn't been the first lot, this could've happened every time."

"That's great news," Max drawled. "First time I've ever been 'lucky' when it comes to something Manticore shot into me. So what do I do?"

"Progesterone supplements," Logan said. "Every day for a couple of weeks should be enough."

"And that's it?"

"No." Logan paused. "You'll have to sleep with Alec again too, to deactivate his enzymes."

Max sighed, and scrubbed a hand over her face.

"Great," she muttered.

"Are you upset because you don't like him," Logan asked finally, "or because you're worried you do?"

--

Max was sitting on top of the Space Needle when he arrived. Well, he hadn't expected to be the first there.

"You rang?" Alec drawled. Max inclined her head slightly. "Is it safe for me to be here?" he asked, moving closer.

"Yep," Max said. "All camphor oiled up."

"Actually," Alec said with a small grin, standing beside her, "I was more worried that you were gonna throw me off."

Max glanced up at him and felt an answering grin start on her face. His widened and he sat, leaning back on his hands.

"So, Maxie." He took a deep breath of the cool air and let it out with a satisfied noise. "To what do I owe this summons?"

Max reached into her jacket and passed him a small plastic bottle. The tablets inside rattled as he turned it so he could read the label.

"You got my message then," he said, passing the bottle back to her.

"Logan confirmed it," she told him. "Said progesterone supplements should do it."

"Good ol' Logan," Alec chuckled. "Saving the day even when he's legally dead." He glanced at her. "That what you wanted to tell me?"

"No." Max rested her chin on her knees. "I've thought about it a bit and…You were right."

Alec raised an eyebrow.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I seem to have forgotten my dictaphone. You couldn't repeat that back where I've got some recording equipment? Or maybe sign a statement to the same effect? 'Cause I know you're never gonna say it again, and I wanna cherish it in the future."

"Blame the drugs," Max snorted. "They do call progesterone 'the Happy Hormone'." She frowned out across the city. "But you've got a point. Logan and Original Cindy said so too. I've been raggin' on you a while and, well, I'm sorry."

"Stop press!" Alec called out at the Seattle skyline. "Max admits Alec is right _and_ apologises! Apocalypse due any day now!"

Max thumped him in the arm.

"I can change my mind, y'know," she warned. Then she leaned back on her elbows and studied him. "Talk to me."

"If you keep pulling crap like this, Maxie, I'm gonna have a heart attack. Don't you normally want me to _stop_ talking?" He eyed her suspiciously. "Who are you, and what've you done with the real Max?"

"You talk a whole lotta bullshit," Max told him with a slight sneer. "But you never actually _say_ anything. Say something. I don't know anything about you, and you've screwed me in every way imaginable. I think I deserve a little info."

Alec frowned at her.

"Like what?"

"I dunno." She shrugged. "What's your favourite song?"

"Linus and Lucy," Alec said, looking back out at the city.

Max waited for further clarification.

"What's that?" she asked, when more information didn't come. "Some rap song?"

"No," he said, somewhat gruffly. "It's…A Jazz piece. For piano."

"Oh." Max licked her lips guiltily. "Did…Did she play it?"

"Yeah." Alec dropped his head, studying his hands. "It was the first piece of music I actually _liked_, y'know? I could play anything they put in front of me, but they only gave me classical stuff at Manticore. Bach, Vivaldi, Chopin, you know. And…I mean, I knew it was good. It had to be, didn't it, if it had lasted this long. But I didn't…_like_ it. It didn't make me want to smile."

"And Linus and Lucy did," Max finished.

"Yeah," Alec gave a small smile. "First time I smiled in that damn house. Felt like the first time ever."

That was something to thank Rachel Berrisford for then, Max thought. She didn't like the idea of an Alec that didn't smile. It seemed…wrong.

"What about you?" Alec asked.

"What about me?"

"You can't expect me to tell you all this without getting something out of it."

"You get me being nice to you," Max said.

Alec studied her for a moment.

"Sorry Maxie," he said finally, standing. "That's not good enough."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Max demanded, sitting up.

"I'm not just gonna give you everything you wanna hear just because you ask," he said. "Not if I'm not getting anything back. I need more of an incentive than you just being nice to me. I shouldn't have to _earn_ your respect Max – especially not after everything I've done for you!"

"Like what? Tried to kill me? Oh yeah, fills me with confidence that does."

"You see that? That's why I'm not giving you any more, 'cause you throw every little thing back at me. I know why you wanna do this – you think if we get all buddy-buddy, it won't be so bad when we have sex."

"That's not - "

"You're a crappy liar, Maxie," Alec told her coldly. "If this is just so you can live with yourself and what we did, then don't bother. It'll just make it more awkward next time. Let's leave feelings out of this, alright? Otherwise it'll just get awkward."

"Alec - "

"Leave your good intentions at home," he advised her, heading back into the needle. "I'd rather just have the ulterior motive than fake sympathy."


	6. Chapter 6

"I don't get it!" Max grumbled, as she and Cindy slouched at a table in Crash. "He said he wanted me to be nicer to him, and I'm being nicer to him! Now he says he'd prefer it if I just didn't bother!"

"Personally, I can't blame the boy for bein' confused," Cindy drawled. "I know I am."

"Look at him," Max grumbled, glaring at Alec who was flirting easily with the petite redhead standing at the bar next to him. "Already scoping out his next lay. He doesn't even have the decency to wait until all this is over with."

"Boo," Cindy said dryly. "Green don't go wit' that outfit."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Max asked irritably.

"That you so jealous you startin' to clash with that red shirt."

"I am not _jealous_!" Max sat upright , looking outraged.

"So jealous," Cindy said, waving off Max's anger. "So jealous it ain't even funny any more."

"I'm _not_!" Max hissed.

"You been glarin' daggers at that Boo yo' boy is talkin' to, an' I can tell you now, you ain't got nothin' to worry 'bout from her."

"Like I was worried anyway," Max huffed. She glanced back at Cindy. "Why not?"

"Because that _fine_ piece of ass is _all_ mine," Cindy said smugly. "And yo' boy is so hooked on you he ain't goin' anywhere in a hurry."

"…He is?"

"Hell yeah!" Cindy shot Max a grin. "Man must be a glutton fo' punishment."

Max frowned and glanced across at Alec, who was grinning at the girl beside him.

"If he's so 'hooked on me', how come he's busy flirting her?"

"Boo," Cindy said with patience. "Flirtin' don't mean you gotta drop down an' propose right out. It's just fun."

"And if she's with you, how come she's flirting back? She doesn't swing that way."

"Are you blind?" Cindy asked. "Yo' boy is _fine_. If I ever went crazy and decided I wanted a man, it would be him. I'm still waitin' to see if they made a version o' him wit all the _right_ bits, aiight?"

"Aiight," Max echoed absently, frowning slightly at Alec.

--

Alec left Crash later feeling somewhat cheerier. He couldn't even feel too disappointed that the girl he'd been flirting with hadn't swung his way, since he'd seen her and Original Cindy getting to know each other rather enthusiastically shortly afterwards.

Hands in the pockets of his jacket, he whistled happily to himself as he sauntered down the road. When he saw Max watching him as she stood on the corner though, he stopped.

"I should've known this evening was going too well," he drawled as he walked over to her, knowing trying to avoid her would just cause him more grief.

"Oh please," Max shot back. "I saw your little girlfriend gettin' her kicks with Original Cindy, how does that qualify as 'going well'?"

Alec just grinned at her and waggled his eyebrows. Max grimaced.

"Oh, God, you men are such perverts."

"…Yeah, that's true." His grin dropped from his face. "What do you want, Max?"

"I want you to kiss me," Max said.

Alec frowned.

"What? Can't you wait another week and a half for sex?"

"I don't want sex," Max snapped. "I just…I want you to kiss me. Like you mean it."

Alec studied her for a moment. She met his gaze squarely, her expression not giving anything away.

"Kiss me like you would've done the other night," she said. "If you hadn't gagged me."

Alec swallowed and glanced up and down the dark, deserted street. He passed his hand over his mouth.

"Why are you doing this?" he asked quietly.

"I need to find something out, is all," she told him.

"This is all just some game to you, isn't it?" he hissed. "You think you can just waltz into my life whenever you please - "

"Hold on, you waltzed into _my_ life first!"

"Yeah, but I didn't start fucking with your emotions like you were some toy," he snapped. "You can't treat me like shit and then expect me to come running whenever you want something!"

"I tried to be nice!" Max snapped back. "I tried asking about what you liked - "

"You were trying to ask me about personal stuff, _private_ stuff and for what? So I could get you to be nice to me? To respect me? Why should I have to work to get the time of day from you Max? Nothing I do is ever good enough for you anyway, so tell me why I should even bother."

"I need to find something out," Max repeated quietly. "I need…I need to be sure."

Alec looked at her carefully, frowning. She looked sincere enough, although he'd be the first to point out he wasn't the only one from Manticore with 'sincere eyes'. There was something there, though. An edge of uncertainty, even fear.

"Alright," he said finally. "How do you want me to do this?"

Suddenly she looked unsure.

"I don't know," she admitted.

"Close your eyes," Alec told her. "Trust me."

Max obliged after a sceptical pause, then jumped when she felt his hand on her waist.

"Just relax," he said quietly. He pulled her gently against him, his hand coming up to her face. She flinched at the first brush of his skin against hers, then relaxed into the touch as his fingers caressed her cheek and slid into her hair.

His lips barely touched hers at first, a feather light brush, followed moments later by a slightly firmer one. Slowly he increased the pressure of the kiss, coaxing her to respond as a lazy heat began to curl through her. He pulled her more tightly against him and she moved with the pressure, bringing her hands up to curl one around his neck the other in his hair.

He opened his mouth slightly and Max responded obediently. The heat rose, suddenly, burning desperately from the inside, and she wanted more, she wanted it faster, but Alec kept it slow, languid. Teasing, tasting, coaxing.

And then he pulled back.

"How was that?" he asked, with a small grin.

"Um…" Max said. "I think I need a little more to go on."

And she pulled him down for another kiss.

--

"I don't see what the problem is," Logan told her.

"The problem is, he's not _you_!"

Logan let out a little huff of laughter, tinged with regret.

"Yeah," he said quietly. "I noticed that too."

"Logan…"

"Look," Logan said reasonably. "Maybe it's best he's not like me. That way you won't keep comparing the two of us. Maybe that's what you need."

"Shouldn't you be telling me you don't want me to go?" Max asked dryly, curled up on the sofa by the window, looking out into the night.

"Much as I'd like to," Logan replied. "It wouldn't be fair to either of us."

Max blew onto the window, then wrote her name in the steam.

"I just…I always thought we'd make it, y'know? Somehow I just always pictured us getting there in the end."

"The best laid plans of mice and men…" Logan quoted, although his tone of voice indicated that he agreed.

"He does kiss pretty well though," Max mused lightly.

"Okay, I'll support you, but I'm not gonna be _that_ supportive. I still don't like the guy that much."

Max grinned wickedly.

"And he does know his way around the bedroom - "

"Okay, hanging up now."

--

"So you like him," Cindy said lightly. "Big deal. The only crime is that you're deprivin' the light sight o' the force of some _fine_ ass, but I ain't gonna judge you for the way you swing."

"Thanks so much," Max drawled. "I feel so much better about all this now."

Alec opened his locker and blinked when he saw a piece of paper folded up on top of his stuff. He glanced around, then picked it up and unfolded it. On it, in Max's handwriting, were the words,

_My favourite song is 'Tank'. I heard it at Logan's._

--

"Why does it not surprise me that you like a song called 'Tank'?" Alec drawled, as he sauntered down to sit beside her on the space needle. Max glanced at him with a raised eyebrow, but didn't say anything. "I had a look on the internet for it. You know it was the theme tune to a cartoon, right? Cowboy Bebop. About bounty hunters, actually. Strangely apt…"

"You're talking, but all I'm hearing is 'blahblahblah, I'm an ass'."

"I just didn't realise you embraced your inner child quite so much." He placed one hand on his chest, the other on her shoulder and sniffed melodramatically. "You're growing up. I'm so proud."

She batted his hand away, but shot him a grin as she did so.

"Jerk."

"Bitch."

Alec leaned back on his elbows while Max sat with her arms wrapped around her knees.

"So," Max said eventually. "I think I like you."

"You think?"

"Yeah."

Alec stared consideringly out across the Seattle skyline.

"Well, I know I like you," he said.

"I guess you're just special then."

"I guess I am." He paused. "I like you better when you're not being a bitch."

"I like you better when you're not talking."

"Guess we'll just have to get used to sort-of liking each other then."

"Guess so."

--


	7. Chapter 7

And just like that, the game changed. Playful thumps would hesitate at the last minute, before connecting. Biting retorts would never quite make it from the tip of the tongue.

It wasn't that either of them wanted the change, but suddenly they were painfully aware of the undertone in everything they did. An alternate interpretation that made this awkward and them hyper-aware of their actions and words.

"Oh will you _chill_ already?" Cindy demanded, as Max slammed her locked door shut, then kicked the one underneath it for good measure. "How long befo' this thing kicks in and you and yo' boy can get jiggy wit' it and stop wiggin'?"

"Three days," Max muttered, headbutting the locker and then regretting it. "I can't take this for three more days." She paused, as a sudden, horrific realisation occurred to her. "What if this doesn't end after we… y'know…"

"Screw like bunnies?" Cindy offered dryly.

"Yeah, that," Max said, her lip curling in slight distaste at the phrasing, then in distaste at her distaste. "What if it stays… y'know, weird?"

"Then y'all had better keep screwin' until it _ain't_," Cindy told her, standing and swinging her rucksack onto her back. "Because I can't take much mo' o' this either."

--

Two days to go until Alec could be free of Max haunting his every waking moment, and a good deal of his sleeping ones. He was getting jumpy around her, every sound she made, every accidental touch, every brief whiff of her scent was causing him agony.

He'd taken time off work, hoping to get away from it and get himself together. But her scent was everywhere in his apartment as well, even though he'd washed his sheets a thousand times since she'd last been there. It was still on him. The camphor oil wasn't helping – he was so anxious all his senses were on full alert and every nerve was twanging.

He was on his sixth set of press-ups in the last hour in an attempt to exhaust himself, but some parts of his body were just not taking the hint. Rolling onto his back, he let out a heavy sigh.

The worst part was not knowing how things would go once everything was fixed. Now that they 'sort of liked' each other, would they be 'together'? Or would they just keep on as they had before… maybe with sex every so often. Or maybe 'sort of liked' wouldn't be enough for either of them.

Grunting, Alec heaved himself upright and headed into the bathroom for another cold shower.

--

One day to go and Max was having her own personal day, spending it on her bike, going as fast as she could to nowhere in particular. The feeling of the bike between her legs wasn't really helping to distract her as much as she had liked.

Would it be another case of 'wham, bam, thank you ma'am' tomorrow? Was that what she wanted? Was it what Alec really wanted? He didn't seem like the type to cuddle, even if he wasn't being forced into sex. Mind you, she wasn't exactly the type to cuddle either, but she got the feeling that if anything had ever happened between her and Logan, then she probably would have become the cuddly type.

Would it be like that with her and Alec? It didn't seem like it so far. Nothing was the same. Maybe Logan was right, maybe different was what she needed.

But different meant so many questions. Everything with Logan had just sort of eased into place. Nothing was easing here. It was like trying to fit a square peg into a round hole.

--

It took a lot of effort for Max to go round to Alec's apartment the next day, and even more effort for her to open the door and go inside. She shut the door quietly behind her, turned to face the room, and froze, stunned.

The room was candlelit – mismatched candles, clearly gathered hastily and at random, were placed in strategic places around the room. There was an open bottle of wine on the table, and the smells of something like spaghetti coming from the kitchen.

"What the hell is all this?" she demanded, as Alec wandered out of the kitchen with two plates piled high with food.

"What?" he asked lightly, setting the meal down on the table. "This?"

"Yes, this!" Max waved her hand at the room. "What are you trying to do?"

Alec looked awkward.

"I thought you might wanna be, I dunno, romanced a bit?" he offered. "Like Logan did, since, y'know, you like me now."

"Oh no," said Max. "No. No no no. I can't do this."

"What? You can't chicken out now, Max!" Alec moved towards her as she backed towards the door, face torn between horror and outrage.

"I can't do this," she said again. "The-the candles and the wine and the food? No. That's not what this is. This thing? With us? We don't wine and dine. We don't have candles."

"So what?" Alec snapped. "We just screw? We try and kill each other while we fuck? That's the way you want it, Maxie? Because I'm sick of that!"

"I don't know!" Max snapped back. "I don't know what we do! Okay? Is that what you want to hear?" She ran her hand through her hair irritably, looking lost. "I don't know what this is or where we are. But this," she said, and gestured at the room. "Isn't it. This isn't the same as Logan and me, and I don't know what to do!"

Alec reached for her but she pulled back.

"No!" she said. "Just… No."

Turning, she made to grab the door handle, but Alec managed to catch her wrist and pulled her to face him.

"Believe it or not, Maxie, that's what I've been waiting to hear."

He pulled her to him and kissed her like he had the night she'd asked him to.

--


	8. Chapter 8

_Sorry this took so long to post - school got rather in the way. Here it is - the final chapter! Thanks for all the wonderful reviews!_

They ended up on the kitchen floor, sprawled on top of their clothes. It worked out quite nicely, because they only had to roll over to get some beers from the fridge, and grab the now-cool pizza which Alec had ordered for lunch and forgotten to eat in his haste to transform his apartment into a fairy tale masterpiece. The candles melted down and spluttered out around them, leaving pools of wax all over the furniture and floor.

When Max finally worked up the will to get up to go to the bathroom, she got distracted on the way back by catching sight of Alec's bedroom, where roses had been painstaking spread over the duvet. She had to hold herself up on the door frame as she tried to stop laughing long enough to breathe.

"Oh shut up," Alec said grouchily, coming up behind her and taking a long swing from his beer. "I was trying to create the atmosphere."

"Where did you get all those anyway?"

"I know a guy who knows a guy." He shrugged it off, setting his empty bottle down and reaching out to her.

They used the bed in the end, holding each other again, not because they had to but simply because they could. Enjoying it without the urgency behind it, pausing every so often and laughing as the rose petals found their way into places which rose petals didn't belong in. It wasn't making love, but it wasn't just fucking either. It was comfortable and real and involved pausing to remove things from hair and sniggering at a particularly unfortunate noise and discovering a bit of tomato sauce that had fallen off the pizza onto someone's bare chest and not been wiped off.

With Logan things had been sensual and deep and romantic, perfect and ultimately untouchable. This was all the things that filled the gaps between the fairy tales – Max didn't have to be the princess to a prince, wined and dined with the layers pulled back to reveal the tender centre – something which had become so exhausting in the end. It was still there, but it was wrapped up in all the imperfections that made her Max, that had made her Max long before Logan came along, and that had been enough for Original Cindy, and Sketchy, and now, it seemed, for Alec.

She still loved Logan, and maybe he had mellowed her out a bit, done her some good by letting her nice side out to play. But she didn't want it out all the time. Nor did she want to have to pretend not to care all the time. This seemed like the perfect balance.

-----

"Don't you be hustlin' me," Max said to Alec, as he leaned over the pool table. "I can tell when you're hustlin'."

"Oh Maxie, I don't need to hustle you at pool," he replied sweetly. "I'm just better."

Original Cindy bumped her way through the crowd with a pitcher of beer.

"You ain't upped the stakes again?" she demanded, looking at the pile of notes on the edge of the table. "We gonna be here all night."

Alec broke neatly, potting three on the first shot.

"Cindy, light of my life," he purred, sliding over to her and holding out his glass hopefully. "This is the last game, I swear on my life."

"It better be," Sketchy called. "'Cause I've got dibs!"

"Just don't tell me what the bet is this time," Cindy said with distaste, filling Alec's glass. "Original Cindy ain't needin' the images that come when you two play for sexual favours."

Sketchy grinned broadly, eyeing Max up cheekily.

"I kinda like to know," he said.

"That," Cindy told him. "Is because you are a pig."

"Hey, a guy's gotta make do," he said with a dramatic sigh. "After all, when he's got no-one of his own to play sexual favours pool with, he has to work to get himself through those long, lonely nights."

Cindy's lip curled in disgust.

"I don't know why I talk to you," she said.

"I'll play sexual favours pool with you," Alec volunteered with a cheeky wink.

Sketchy choked on his beer.

"Ask me again when I've transformed into Normal," he said dryly.

Alec waggled his eyebrows at Sketchy and carried on with the game after Max smacked him upside the head.

"So, Max…" Sketchy grinned toothily at his friend as she came to refill her own glass. "I hear you're a real tiger in the sack."

"Yeah," Max scoffed. "I bite the sensitive bits." She snapped her teeth at him and he winced.

"Play nice, Maxie," Alec called. "Not everyone can put up with the kind of domestic abuse you deal out."

"Oh please, you've never been abused," she drawled. "The closest you've come is abusing my ears with your bitching."

"Bitching, hah! So quoth Bitchiana, Queen of all the Bitches!"

"Guess that makes you my bitch, huh?"

"Guess you must just have good taste. What was it? My cute ass? My killer abs?"

"Your _huge_…Ego?"

The bickering continued, much as it ever had. Things were comfortable, which they'd never really been when Logan had been hanging out with them. Max could be herself. Not Cinderella, but just Max, in this imperfect fairy tale. And while, maybe it wasn't quite love, maybe not just yet, at least she was sure that it wasn't just genetics either.


End file.
